Hello, my name is Yamini Narayan. I am a freshman and I am running for the position of Vice President of Student Organizations (VPSO). I am an SGA Senator, a Health Administration and Public Policy major, a Sondheim Scholar, a part of UMBC Taal Cappella, and a member of the Honors College.  My experience with SGA began this past semester when I was appointed as a Senator.  This position has helped me to collaborate with many different groups to improve life in the UMBC community. A major benefit of the fact that I started participating in SGA as a freshman is that I have plenty of time to carry out long-lasting projects that will better our community.

This AMA is for all UMBC students to have an opportunity to raise any questions they might have about me or my platform, which is built on three main pillars:

Communication: Receiving recognition from SGA as well as from academic departments is a key to success for student organizations.  As VPSO, one of my goals is to bridge these gaps in order to ensure that organizations receive the proper resources they each need to thrive, such as access to practice/meeting spaces. Access to spaces is an issue that many student organizations face at UMBC. This concern can be minimized with better communication between academic departments and student organizations.  By representing student organizations in SGA as VPSO, I can facilitate the interaction between academic departments and student organizations to see that the needs of organizations are met.

Involvement: The SGA can and should become more involved with student organizations, and vice versa. I plan to encourage stronger attendance of student organizations at SGA-sponsored events to increase the visibility of organizations. Through efforts like this, student organizations will be recognized more both by SGA and by the UMBC community.

Efficiency: I aim to make the UMBC SGA more efficient so that student organizations will have their needs addressed in a timely manner.  As the VPSO, I would work to improve the process by which student organizations form, request money, and hold events by making that information and associated resources more easily accessible.  Members of many student organizations often feel that SGA has not been recognizing their needs. Making SGA more accessible to student organizations will allow their concerns to be heard and will promote their efforts and accomplishments.  

The UMBC SGA has some great ongoing initiatives to improve the UMBC community, but people do not often know of the work that SGA does. Inversely, there are over 250 student organizations at UMBC, but how many organizations are regularly recognized for their accomplishments? There are great possibilities for relationships between SGA and student organizations, and a critical step in creating those strong ties revolves around improving transparency in SGA. If SGA strives to be more open about its events and initiatives, and student organizations are better able to express their needs within SGA, we can make sure that all student organizations reach their full potential within the UMBC community.

Thank you for considering me as a candidate. I look forward to answering your questions!